Lynn Hoppes to ESPN

I don't recall him urging loyalty to newspapers. I believe this was the column in question:

http://apse.dallasnews.com/2008/aug2008/080108hoppes.html

He did catch flak here at the time because he wrote in detail about Tampa's cutbacks but not about Orlando's.

I do think he deserves flak because APSE did little to assist those affected by the bloodbaths, beyond offering free jobs-wanted postings, which does a hell of a lot of good considering almost nobody who reads the APSE jobs board has any openings that can be filled. Heaven forbid the APSE officers spend less time planning the convention and running contests and instead focus on finding ways to actually help people who need it. He did a joke of a job as APSE prez, basically fiddling while Rome burned and then finding a comfy landing spot for himself. I don't blame him for taking the offer, but he could have spent his term at least appearing to give a shit about those who were less fortunate than he is.

 

I think he needs a haircut.

 

Congrats and good luck Lynn

 

So he's the J. Bruce Ismay of the industry. Fair enough.

"Full speed ahead. We want to reach New York by Tuesday morning."

 

Good move by Lynn.

Lynn's column talks about the field and the business ... I know many of you think newspapers are a completely separate world from the ESPN.com/AOL Sports/Yahoo! Sports world, but some day I hope you all realize: we're the same damn family.

No, maybe the online folks don't have the same deadlines each day for a print product and the online reporters don't have to report to an office that feels more like a morgue, but we're the same thing. Yes, the talking heads on ESPN can be classified differently, but so many of the online sports folks were newspaper people first and foremost. We made the moves to online for the same reasons that people used to go from the Northwest Florida Daily to the Miami Herald -- the opportunity to move up, try new adventures, face new challenges, work with new people and learn and grow as reporters, writers, bosses and editors.

I'm so sick of people on here still in newspapers that just come in and whine about the death and carnage of the 'industry' and knock down those of us who are still doing the same job, day in and day out, but took it online. (there's only a handful that fit this mold, but they post frequently -- I'm not trying to knock all my print friends.) I'm just a kid still, but I spent the first 25 years of my life planning on working for newspapers until I died. Plans change. The print aspect of the industry took, and continues to take, a huge hit. The world is hurting -- not just us but the car companies and the banks and Boeing and all those jobs people were always convinced would be safe. You have to adapt. I'm still doing the same things I was doing when I worked at newspapers -- talking to people, covering events, writing stories, meeting deadlines, trying to 'write good sentences.' I still die a little inside when I see threads like the latest Richmond cuttings or hear about my last shop shedding more people. Making the 'jump' to online really wasn't a jump at all.

Lynn's column in question continues to ring with me because I feel it touches being a journalist more than working for a newspaper. And that's what we all are, whether it's McClatchy, Lean Dean or the Mouse that signs your check.

Lynn, I welcome you into the WWL family. I know you'll be able to continue some of the things you love about your last job -- working with writers, developing young talent and staying in the industry. And hopefully you'll be at Poynter in April so you can remind those in attendance that it's not 100 percent about putting out a print product to be a journalist.

Have at me.

edit for typo

 

I completely agree with his premise of going toward something, rather than away from something.

Newspapers don't have a monopoly on journalism anymore. A well-staffed website is the new-age equivalent of the print newsroom.

ESPN is doing it, Dave Morgan at Yahoo has done it. Breaking news and saving trees.

Gotta wake up and see the light.

 

You said it better than I did in the post above (I was writing it at the same time you were.)

 

Hoppes, for his little utopia, was a helluva sports editor.

Still, hard to quibble with the final handful of words.

 

You wake up.

Every paper has a web site.

 

Good luck, Lynn! I think in this climate, if someone can get a job he/she wants, then we all should applaud (isn't that what we're trying to do?)

 

If I were counting on someone to give a shit about those in tough situations, I wouldn't look to Lynn Hoppes. He wasn't very effective as the APSE president but who is an effective leader in the newspaper industry these days? It's a rat race out there.

 

I wonder if any of those supporting Lynn or defending his columns have ever actually met the man and seen him in action.